Features responses to a problem that appeared in the January, 2001 issue of this journal. The problem concerned finding all of the shape combinations of two colors of blocks in four-block combinations. (KHR)

Presents a problem of tetras made with four cubes, mathematical ideas involved in this problem, and guiding questions for teachers. (KHR)

This study evaluated the ability of 40 blind adults to spatially organize large outdoor places using a verbal response survey and a near space lapboard task. The study found a high correlation between performances on the large outdoor environment with and without sighted guide tasks. The lapboard task also predicted performance in the outdoor…

Investigated spatial memory for written words as a behavioral consequence of verbal processing differences. Across three experiments with Chinese and U.S. college students, spatial memory for real and nonsense words was greater for Chinese logographs than for alphabetic English words. This spatial memory advantage was absent for pictures and…

This exploratory study experimentally investigated the influence of navigation mode, distracting links, sensation-seeking tendency, and spatial-synthetic ability on perceived disorientation and incidental learning in Web navigation. Discusses the results of the four-factor MANOVA design that had three dependent variables. (Author/LRW)

Memory and metamemory abilities of 24 severely to profoundly deaf students between the ages of 9 and 20 years old were studied. Results did not suggest spatial bias in encoding. Semantic knowledge was correlated with metamemory and free recall, and rehearsal mechanisms correlated with temporal position recall and paired-associate nonprototypic…

J. Dirks (1982) reported that the Block-Design subtest score from the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children--Revised is amenable to practice effects transferred from a game. Results from the assessment of two other spatial games, using 37 children in daycare (23 experimentals and 14 controls) indicate no transfer effects. (TJH)

Investigated the interpretation of the word "big" by 40 children of 3 to 5 years. The type and orientation of objects used in the study were varied. Results demonstrated that contextual factors influenced children's responses. (RJC)

Examines the ability of 140 children of 3-5 years to use functional standards to judge size. The ability to use nonegocentric functional standards was present by age 3. However, 3-year-olds performed above chance only when their attention was directed to the relevant function. (RJC)

Presents an activity in which students use geometric figures, rep-tiles, to design a tile floor. Rep-tiles are geometric figures of which copies can fit together to form a larger similar figure. Includes reproducible student worksheet. (MKR)

Studied spatial knowledge in fully blind versus fully sighted four- to nine-year olds. Found that blind children performed as well as sighted on all tasks but one. (ETB)

This study of 34 adults with Down's syndrome found that right-handed subjects exhibited no lateral advantage in dihaptic shape-matching, whereas left-handed subjects displayed an expected left-hand advantage. In a visual field dot enumeration task, both groups exhibited left-field superiority. Results indicate that subjects' atypical cerebral…

In a visual habituation experiment, infants watched a circle (the "agent") move toward another circle by jumping over a barrier or jumping without a barrier present, and then watched a circle move straight to another circle. Found that infants were able to identify the agent's spatial goal and to interpret the agent's actions causally in…

Examined how the nature of spatial relations influences children's ability to remember relations between progressively larger landmarks and spatial regions. Found that when asked about the location of an object, children clearly understood that they should provide the landmark with which the object was positioned. However, referential…

Gender differences in cognitive abilities were studied in 1,224 13-year olds using a multivariate latent variables approach. No gender differences were found in the structure of cognitive abilities, but mean differences in favor of females were found for general intelligence, with higher means for males on most spatial dimensions. (SLD)